إضغط هنا لمشاهدة هذا المقال باللغة العربية
إضغط هنا لمشاهدة هذا المقال باللغة العربية
Coopérations Entreprises Socio-Culturelles refers to two organisations in Luxembourg: Coopérations Asbl and Coopérations Société Coopérative. One is a non-profit socio-cultural organisation focused on art and culture, social involvement and helping people reach their potential. The other is a socio-economically-oriented enterprise functioning as a workshop which offers work opportunities to people with psychosocial handicaps in the food service industry, landscape gardening and art. A market gardening project was also implemented at the start of 2020 in order to grow the vegetables for their restaurant Eis Kichen. Finally, a campsite is expected to open in the coming months.
Both of these organizations chose to consume EKOenergy-labelled energy a few years ago. We interviewed Christophe Kremer in order to get further insight on Coopérations.
What was the driving force behind your decision to use EKOenergy-labelled electricity? What convinced you that it was the right step?
Opting for EKOenergy-labelled energy was a simple and obvious choice to make and the initiative mainly came from our Luxembourgian energy supplier Eida. When they drew up our contract a few years ago, we discovered that it was possible to choose EKOenergy. This choice aligned with our sustainability objectives perfectly and followed the pathway we chose when we picked our electricity provider. Furthermore, we have been a societal impact organisation for the last three years. This is a new legal status which Luxembourg has set up for organisations, such as Coopérations, who work in the solidarity and social-based economy sector and who would like to have an impact on society. This is why, when Eida offered us EKOenergy, it was a fast choice since the ecolabel corresponded to our values and ecological engagement. Eida just simplified the adhesion process.
How did the process of buying EKOenergy-labelled renewable electricity go for you?
The buying process was easy, we just signed our contract and started consuming EKOenergy-labelled energy. We trust our provider because they know that we wish to engage in more ecological and ethical practices. By choosing this ecolabel, we have the opportunity to preserve the planet as well as help different projects move forward, such as those funded through EKOenergy’s Climate Fund. As for us, we try to spread awareness, particularly on the subject of renewable energy. We would also like to reduce our energy consumption and its impact. Our goal is to use less energy and in a better way, so it is important for us to support renewable energies. In the long run however, the aim would be to reduce our energy consumption, hence this market gardening project that we implemented in order to facilitate a short marketing chain (a direct line between the producer and the consumer).
You already briefly talked about it, but could you expand on what other decisions you have made to be more sustainable, besides consuming EKOenergy?
We have been engaged in sustainability issues for years. For the last five years, we have supported farmers who are transitioning towards more ecological agricultural methods or who have already done so. At the moment, we actively support two organic farmers in the region by providing them with labourers. Furthermore, we have donated 10 000 euros in order to open the first packaging-free grocery shop in Luxembourg. We also have the SuperDrecksKëscht label which is a label credited to companies which manage their waste in an environmentally friendly way. Lastly, in December, we will open an ethical shop to enable local producers to sell their products and to facilitate a short marketing chain for the products to go directly from the producer to the consumer, without any intermediary.
We thank Coopérations for choosing EKOenergy and for answering our questions! We hope that their sustainable actions will inspire others and accelerate the transition towards a 100% renewable world.
We would also like to thank the EKOenergy licensees for working with us and providing EKOenergy-labelled electricity. Without them, EKOenergy’s success would not have been possible. We particularly thank Eida for their efforts in Luxembourg.
To see other articles like this and to learn more about companies using EKOenergy-labelled energy, have a look at our user stories. We, and our licensees, are happy to help individuals and companies choose the most sustainable renewable energy available.
If you are considering ways to display your environmental commitment or thinking of switching to environmentally sustainable electricity, don’t hesitate to contact us. To stay updated, follow us on Facebook, Linkedln, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Xing!
Christophe Kremer was interviewed by Elodie Cuesta
Published on 17 December 2020
